TheCable

Yakubu Gowon, a former head of state, says Nigeria would have been a better place if late President Umaru Yar’Adua completed his term in office.

Yar’Adua, who was inaugurated president in 2007, died on May 5, 2010 due to ill health. He was reportedly treated for pericarditis in Saudi Arabia before he passed on.

The development paved the way for Goodluck Jonathan, then vice-president, to be sworn in as president.

Speaking on Monday at a leadership conference and awards organised by the Global Initiative For Leadership Success in Abuja, Gowon described the late president as a “decent man”.

“He did very well and he has to be remembered. He was so honest that he said the process that brought him to power was not right. And he set up a committee. But it was not followed by successive leaders,” the former head of state said.

“However, I believe that one day, we shall have a solution. He was honest and sincere in dealing with any problem, and he was incorruptible.

“You cannot blame him for corruption; he was clean. His various activities, including the amnesty programme that he brought to the Niger Delta, ensured our economy was protected.

“His illness and death… I believe if God had allowed him to complete his years in service, I believe Nigeria would have been better. A lot of things would have been better because he meant well for the country.

“So continue that love for the country and love for one another to make Nigeria great.”

Abdullahi Mamman, a retired general and chair of the Global Initiative For Leadership Success, said the alleged refusal to implement the recommendations put forward by the Yar’Adua administration on electoral reforms, is the reason Nigeria has an “ever-faulty governance leadership recruitment system”.